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Owen Connolly
Owen Connolly was a well known public figure in Prince Edward Island, and his life has been quite well documented. This article focuses expressly on his life as it relates to the town of Souris. For further reading on Connolly, click here. Early Life By the 1860s Owen Connolly had established himself as a business force on Prince Edward Island, owning numerous stores and even banks throughout the provinceCousins, David. Some Island Entrepreneurs. ''Institute for Island Studies. 8 November 2017.. As a result of his ambition to expand these stores, he purchased a large block of land within the town of Souris from the widow of Donald Beaton in 1876Townshend, Adele. ''Ten Farms Become A Town. ''Souris, PEI. 1986. Print.. This land was on the south side of Main Street, extending from the West corner of Church Avenue (the present day CO-OP grocery store), to the present day St. Mary's Parish Hall. In 1877 Connolly had a large building constructed, in the approximate position of the parish hall, and from here he opened a sizeable store and hired a Mr. Murphy and a Mr. McBride to operate it for him. He also owned a lobster factory at Black Bush. This building came to house other businesses as well, as Townshend explains that "In 1888, Frank Heartz, son of Benjamin (who was known for his involvement in the Matthew and McLean Company), came to Souris to manage a branch store of McLean, Heartz & Company. It was located in the Connolly building". However, the Connolly building, like so many others at that time, was to be destroyed by fire. ''The Charlottetown Herald of April 29, 1891, had this to report: "For the fifth time since last autumn, Souris was visited by fire, this being the most destructive in its history." The large Connolly Estate building went first, and then the warehouse at the rear. The fire crossed the street, destroying Dr. Ford's Drug Store and adjoining tenement building owned by the Knight Estate. It was said that the cinders blew as far as Black Bush on the North Shore". Cousins also explains that apart from his business acument, Connolly was "renowned for his generous involvement in the life of his community. As an immigrant from Monaghan, he understood poverty well, and this was reflected in his acts of charity. In his later years, he distributed coal and blankets to the poor during the winter. His charity also reached across the Atlantic to his home country when he donated money to those areas that were hit hardest by famine in the 1880s". "Connolly's largest act of charity, however, was not known to the public until his death in 1887. In his will he instructed the executors of his estate to apply the remainder of his estate "for the purpose of educating or assisting to educate poor children resident in Prince Edward Island, who are Irish, or the sons of Irish fathers." The value of this estate was estimated at the time to be $250,000. The program for implementing this fund was established after a few years and was first applied to the support of several students of St. Dunstan's College. This was a tremendous help to the college, as well as to those students who otherwise would not have had the opportunity for such an education". It is also known that as a part of this will, Connolly's estate helped to cover the payments to install a new furnace at St. Mary's Convent. In return "the Sisters were to educate eight young boys of Irish parentage with limited financial resources for one year. Books, clothing, meals and board were to be provided if necessary". As a result of Connolly's influence, the small street which extends from the west side of the parish hall, behind the hall and connects to the southernmost extremity of Church Avenue to still named Connolly Street. References